Automatic synthesis of analog layout : a survey

A review of recent research in the automatic synthesis of physical geometry for analog integrated circuits is presented. On introduction, an explanation of the difficulties involved in analog layout as opposed to digital layout is covered. Review of the literature then follows. Emphasis is placed on the exposition of general methods for addressing problems specific to analog layout, with the details of specific systems only being given when they surve to illustrate these methods well. The conclusion discusses problems remaining and offers a prediction as to how technology will evolve to solve them. It is argued that although progress has been and will continue to be made in the automation of analog IC layout, due to fundamental differences in the nature of analog IC design as opposed to digital design, it should not be expected that the level of automation of the former will reach that of the latter any time soon

Multi-channel Wireless Networks with Infrastructure Support: Capacity and Delay

In this paper, we propose a novel multi-channel network with infrastructure support, called an \textit{MC-IS} network, which has not been studied in the literature. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to study such an \textit{MC-IS} network. Our \textit{MC-IS} network is equipped with a number of infrastructure nodes which can communicate with common nodes using a number of channels where a communication between a common node and an infrastructure node is called an infrastructure communication and a communication between two common nodes is called an ad-hoc communication. Our proposed \textit{MC-IS} network has a number of advantages over three existing conventional networks, namely a single-channel wireless ad hoc network (called an \textit{SC-AH} network), a multi-channel wireless ad hoc network (called an \textit{MC-AH} network) and a single-channel network with infrastructure support (called an \textit{SC-IS} network). In particular, the \textit{network capacity} of our proposed \textit{MC-IS} network is $\sqrt{n \log n}$ times higher than that of an \textit{SC-AH} network and an \textit{MC-AH} network and the same as that of an \textit{SC-IS} network, where $n$ is the number of nodes in the network. The \textit{average delay} of our \textit{MC-IS} network is $\sqrt{\log n/n}$ times lower than that of an \textit{SC-AH} network and an \textit{MC-AH} network, and $\min(C_I,m)$ times lower than the average delay of an \textit{SC-IS} network, where $C_I$ and $m$ denote the number of channels dedicated for infrastructure communications and the number of interfaces mounted at each infrastructure node, respectively.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, 3 table

Evaluating the Differences of Gridding Techniques for Digital Elevation Models Generation and Their Influence on the Modeling of Stony Debris Flows Routing: A Case Study From Rovina di Cancia Basin (North-Eastern Italian Alps)

Debris \ufb02ows are among the most hazardous phenomena in mountain areas. To cope with debris \ufb02ow hazard, it is common to delineate the risk-prone areas through routing models. The most important input to debris \ufb02ow routing models are the topographic data, usually in the form of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). The quality of DEMs depends on the accuracy, density, and spatial distribution of the sampled points; on the characteristics of the surface; and on the applied gridding methodology. Therefore, the choice of the interpolation method affects the realistic representation of the channel and fan morphology, and thus potentially the debris \ufb02ow routing modeling outcomes. In this paper, we initially investigate the performance of common interpolation methods (i.e., linear triangulation, natural neighbor, nearest neighbor, Inverse Distance to a Power, ANUDEM, Radial Basis Functions, and ordinary kriging) in building DEMs with the complex topography of a debris \ufb02ow channel located in the Venetian Dolomites (North-eastern Italian Alps), by using small footprint full- waveform Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) data. The investigation is carried out through a combination of statistical analysis of vertical accuracy, algorithm robustness, and spatial clustering of vertical errors, and multi-criteria shape reliability assessment. After that, we examine the in\ufb02uence of the tested interpolation algorithms on the performance of a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based cell model for simulating stony debris \ufb02ows routing. In detail, we investigate both the correlation between the DEMs heights uncertainty resulting from the gridding procedure and that on the corresponding simulated erosion/deposition depths, both the effect of interpolation algorithms on simulated areas, erosion and deposition volumes, solid-liquid discharges, and channel morphology after the event. The comparison among the tested interpolation methods highlights that the ANUDEM and ordinary kriging algorithms are not suitable for building DEMs with complex topography. Conversely, the linear triangulation, the natural neighbor algorithm, and the thin-plate spline plus tension and completely regularized spline functions ensure the best trade-off among accuracy and shape reliability. Anyway, the evaluation of the effects of gridding techniques on debris \ufb02ow routing modeling reveals that the choice of the interpolation algorithm does not signi\ufb01cantly affect the model outcomes

Virtual lines, a deadlock-free and real-time routing mechanism for ATM networks

In this paper, we present a routing mechanism and buffer allocation mechanism for an ATM switching fabric. Since the fabric will be used to transfer multimedia traffic, it should provide a guaranteed throughput and a bounded latency. We focus on the design of a suitable routing mechanism that is capable of fulfilling these requirements and is free of deadlocks. We will describe two basic concepts that can be used to implement deadlock-free routing. Routing of messages is closely related to buffering. We have organized the buffers into parallel FIFO's, each representing a virtual line. In this way, we not only have solved the problem of head of line blocking, but we can also give real-time guarantees. We will show that for local high-speed networks, it is more advantageous to have a proper flow control than to have large buffers. Although the virtual line concept can have a low buffer utilization, the transfer efficiency can be higher. The virtual line concept allows adaptive routing. The total throughput of the network can be improved by using alternative routes. Adaptive routing is attractive in networks where alternative routes are not much longer than the initial route(s). The network of the switching fabric is built up from switching elements interconnected in a Kautz topology

On Capacity and Delay of Multi-channel Wireless Networks with Infrastructure Support

In this paper, we propose a novel multi-channel network with infrastructure support, called an MC-IS network, which has not been studied in the literature. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to study such an MC-IS network. Our proposed MC-IS network has a number of advantages over three existing conventional networks, namely a single-channel wireless ad hoc network (called an SC-AH network), a multi-channel wireless ad hoc network (called an MC-AH network) and a single-channel network with infrastructure support (called an SC-IS network). In particular, the network capacity of our proposed MC-IS network is $\sqrt{n \log n}$ times higher than that of an SC-AH network and an MC-AH network and the same as that of an SC-IS network, where $n$ is the number of nodes in the network. The average delay of our MC-IS network is $\sqrt{\log n/n}$ times lower than that of an SC-AH network and an MC-AH network, and $\min\{C_I,m\}$ times lower than the average delay of an SC-IS network, where $C_I$ and $m$ denote the number of channels dedicated for infrastructure communications and the number of interfaces mounted at each infrastructure node, respectively. Our analysis on an MC-IS network equipped with omni-directional antennas only has been extended to an MC-IS network equipped with directional antennas only, which are named as an MC-IS-DA network. We show that an MC-IS-DA network has an even lower delay of $\frac{c}{\lfloor \frac{2\pi}{\theta}\rfloor \cdot C_I}$ compared with an SC-IS network and our MC-IS network. For example, when $C_I=12$ and $\theta=\frac{\pi}{12}$, an MC-IS-DA network can further reduce the delay by 24 times lower that of an MC-IS network and reduce the delay by 288 times lower than that of an SC-IS network.Comment: accepted, IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, 201

Optogenetic control of genetically-targeted pyramidal neuron activity in prefrontal cortex

A salient feature of prefrontal cortex organization is the vast diversity of cell types that support the temporal integration of events required for sculpting future responses. A major obstacle in understanding the routing of information among prefrontal neuronal subtypes is the inability to manipulate the electrical activity of genetically defined cell types over behaviorally relevant timescales and activity patterns. To address these constraints, we present here a simple approach for selective activation of prefrontal excitatory neurons in both in vitro and in vivo preparations. Rat prelimbic pyramidal neurons were genetically targeted to express a light-­activated nonselective cation channel, channelrhodopsin-­2, or a light-­driven inward chloride pump, halorhodopsin, which enabled them to be rapidly and reversibly activated or inhibited by pulses of light. These light responsive tools provide a spatially and temporally precise means of studying how different cell types contribute to information processing in cortical circuits. Our customized optrodes and optical commutators for in vivo recording allow for efficient light delivery and recording and can be requested at www.neuro-­cloud.net/nature-precedings/baratta

Parallel Opportunistic Routing in Wireless Networks

We study benefits of opportunistic routing in a large wireless ad hoc network by examining how the power, delay, and total throughput scale as the number of source- destination pairs increases up to the operating maximum. Our opportunistic routing is novel in a sense that it is massively parallel, i.e., it is performed by many nodes simultaneously to maximize the opportunistic gain while controlling the inter-user interference. The scaling behavior of conventional multi-hop transmission that does not employ opportunistic routing is also examined for comparison. Our results indicate that our opportunistic routing can exhibit a net improvement in overall power--delay trade-off over the conventional routing by providing up to a logarithmic boost in the scaling law. Such a gain is possible since the receivers can tolerate more interference due to the increased received signal power provided by the multi-user diversity gain, which means that having more simultaneous transmissions is possible.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, Under Review for Possible Publication in IEEE Transactions on Information Theor

A three-stage ATM switch with cell-level path allocation

A method is described for performing routing in three-stage asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switches which feature multiple channels between the switch modules in adjacent stages. The method is suited to hardware implementation using parallelism to achieve a very short execution time. This allows cell-level routing to be performed, whereby routes are updated in each time slot. The algorithm allows a contention-free routing to be performed, so that buffering is not required in the intermediate stage. An algorithm with this property, which preserves the cell sequence, is referred to as a path allocation algorithm. A detailed description of the necessary hardware is presented. This hardware uses a novel circuit to count the number of cells requesting each output module, it allocates a path through the intermediate stage of the switch to each cell, and it generates a routing tag for each cell, indicating the path assigned to it. The method of routing tag assignment described employs a nonblocking copy network. The use of highly parallel hardware reduces the clock rate required of the circuitry, for a given-switch size. The performance of ATM switches using this path allocation algorithm has been evaluated by simulation, and is described

Virtual lines, a deadlock free and real-time routing mechanism for ATM networks

In this paper we present a routing mechanism and buffer allocation mechanism for an ATM switching fabric. Since the fabric will be used to transfer multimedia traffic it should provide a guaranteed throughput and a bounded latency. We focus on the design of a suitable routing mechanism that is capable to fulfil these requirements and is free of deadlocks. We will describe two basic concepts that can be used to implement deadlock free routing. Routing of messages is closely related to buffering. We have organized the buffers into parallel fifos, each representing a virtual line. In this way we not only have solved the problem of Head Of Line blocking, but we can also give real-time guarantees. We will show that for local high-speed networks it is more advantageous to have a proper flow control than to have large buffers. Although the virtual line concept can have a low buffer utilization, the transfer efficiency can be higher. The virtual lines concept allows adaptive routing. The total throughput of the network can be improved by using alternative routes. Adaptive routing is attractive in networks where alternative routes are not much longer than the initial route(s). The network of the switching fabric is built up from switching elements interconnected in a Kautz topology